1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to apparatus and structures for cooling electronic devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to copper microchannel cooling apparatus and structures for cooling integrated circuits or other apparatus.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As heat is generated during the functioning of integrated circuit chips (ICs), the thermal resistance from the chip junction to the ambient air or circulating cooling fluid needs to be small enough to achieve sufficient cooling of the chip to assure reliable operation of the device. The problem of heat removal from the chip becomes more difficult as chip geometry is scaled down and operating speeds are increased, resulting in increased power density. The ability to cool the chips can therefore be a limiting factor in the further increase of system performance. In many systems, air cooling is not possible due to high power density or to space and air flow limitations. One approach to avoiding the limitations of conventional air cooling is to use a cooling liquid.
Various heat removal techniques have been developed for cooling semiconductor chips, including heat removal techniques for cooling single chip modules (SCMs) or multiple chip modules (MCMs). For example, silicon microchannel cooling has been demonstrated for cooling high power densities (e.g., >500 W/cm2) in SCMs. Limitations of heat removal techniques result from, for example, Silicon construction that can be weak, components which are expensive to fabricate, and pressure drops and non-uniform flow distribution due to manifold design limitations.
Therefore, a need exists for a copper microchannel cooling apparatus and structures for cooling integrated circuits.